The killing of three male deer on Wednesday night inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) has once again stressed the need for adoption of stringent measures to curb the speeding of vehicles on the Kozhikode-Mysuru National Highway 212 that passes through the sanctuary.
The deer were killed by a vehicle rushing to beat the night traffic ban in force in the Karnataka part of NH-212 passing through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. A male leopard was killed in a road accident at Thakarappadi inside the sanctuary in April 2015.
The sanctuary – known for endangered animals including tigers and Asiatic elephants — witnesses a frantic rush of vehicles every day from 6 p.m. onwards with people trying to cross the border to the Karnataka side before 9 p.m. when the traffic ban sets in, which often results in wildlife causalities, Arul Badusha, a wildlife conservationist, says.
Moreover, the night traffic ban on the 18-km stretch enforced following a Karnataka High Court order in 2010 has led to hundreds of vehicles being parked overnight in the WWS, obstructing even the passage of pachyderms through the two main elephant corridors, he adds.
A similar ban on the 8 km-stretch of the WWS during the night hours would help stop reckless driving by truck drivers, suggests C.K. Vishnudas, a wildlife researcher.
Many people camp in the forests and the disposal of plastic waste and cooking of food by travellers cause serious disturbances to wildlife, says N. Badusha, president, Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samiti.
